Fender welt



Jan. 11, 1938. 6. cs. BARR ET AL FENDER WELT Filed Aug. 26, 1936 I ofthe welt.

Patented Jan. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Kirchner, Washington,D

0., assignors to Backstay Welt Company, Union City, Ind., a

corporation of Indiana Application August 26, 1936, scrial No. 98,038

7 Claims.

Our invention relates to fender welts, i. e., cushioning. strips adaptedto be interposed be-' I tween certain sheet metal parts of automobiles,such as between the body and fenders, to prevent squeaks, rattles, etc.,An important object of the invention is to providea fender welt havingan ornamental weatherproof exterior portion and an efficient cushioningand sound-deadening in- I terior portion.

Further objects are concerned with generally improving the durability ofthe sound-deadening portion under adverse'conditions consequent uponloosening of the juxtaposed metal parts and relative movement of thesame, resulting infrubbing A further important object is the provisionof "a fenderv welt'st'ructure the sound-deadening portion of-which canbe readily made in any desired thickness to suit the exigencies ofparticular ingo stallations and preferences.

' Another object is to provide a fender welt of materials which areinexpensive, efficient and durable, which can be satisfactorily die cut,and which 'wlll'possess a high degree of flexibility.

.25 An important principle of the invention resides in the use, in thecushioning or sound-deadening portion of the welt, of a crimped or crepepaper, employed preferably ina plurality of plies bonded together by'asuitable waterproof adhesive and filler. We have found that crepe paper,the particular character of which will be more fully explainedhereinafter, possesses certain important properties which render itdefinitely superior to any cushioning material which, so far as we arean aware, has ever been heretofore used in fender -welt constructions.In its broad aspects the invention contemplates the use. of this type ofpaper; and in certain embodiments of the invention the paper isspecially folded and is associated to with other elements of the welt ina particular fashion to produce a structure having certain additionaladvantages, as will be explained hereinafter. I I I The invention isshown in certain preferred 45 forms of embodiment in the acompanyingdrawing, in which each of the figures is a perspective view,showing oneend in cross section, and in all of which the's'ame reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts.

In the drawing, Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive illustrate various formsof thefender welts proposed by our invention, and Fig. 5 shows, on an enlargedscale, a fragment of theorepe paper material which constitutes animportant element of the construc- I 55 tion. I l

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral l designatesgenerally the external portion of a fender welt, i. e., the beaded edgewhich is exposed to view and to the weather when the interior portion,designated by the reference nu- 5 meral 2, is interposed in operativeposition between adjacent and generally parallel surfaces of two metalbodies, as for example an automobile body and the attaching flange of afender.

'The portion i is conveniently made beaded, as

tance from the bead filler to receive and support the sound-deadeningmaterial which comprises an important element of the interior portion 2of the welt, and the other ply of the bead-covering fabric, designated 6in all the figures, extends a much shorter distance from the filler. Thesound-deadening material is interposed between the piles 5 and 6, whichmay be stitched together, preferably close to the' bead filler, as shownat I in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, or these two plies may be secured to thesound-deadening material by the use of cement only, as shown in Fig. 2.

The sound-deadening material which forms the important and operativepart of the portion 2 of the welt is, according to the principles of ourinvention, built up of crepe paper employed in a plurality of superposedplies 8, 8. Crepe paper is paper having a multiplicity of surfaceirregularities, comprising alternate juxtaposed ridges and depressionsof more or less minute but readily discernible character. As a rule, thepaper is orig- 40 inally smooth-surfaced and of uniform thickness and issubsequently creped' by causing it to pass between rollers whichintroduce the characteristic surface folds. This type of crepe paper isshorter in at least one dimension than the original sheet from which itwas formed, and it is freely extensible in the direction of thatdimension when placed under tension to straighten out the crimps orfolds. This type ofcrepe paper, shown in Fig. 5, is the form preferredfor the sound-deadening element of our invention, but we may use a paperof a somewhat different type, i. e., one which has been originallycalendered to provide the desired surface elevations and depressions. Itis to be understood that the term 8, 8, securely bonded together by anadhesive such as a latex or asphaltum compound, which isweather-resistant and more or less permanently flexible. The portion 2of the welt is capable of being provided in any desired thickness,within a relatively wide range of limits, to suit differentinstallations and manufacturers preferences, by the simple expedient ofusing plies of paper in greater or less number. This feature constitutesa distinct advantage of our invention and overcomes the difiicultyhereto fore experienced with welts in which the portion to be interposedbetween the metal surfaces of Tex- I the automobile was made of textilefabric. tile material suitable for use of this kind is inherentlythicker than the paper which we employ, and it is not practical to useit in more than a single ply, exclusive of the attaching ply of coatedfabric. Attempts to providecushioning portions of multi-ply textilefabric have been uniformly unsuccessful because the resulting body wasin the great majority of cases either too thick or'too thin. Noknowntextile fabric having cushioning properties and the requisitestrength is available'in sheets of sufficient thinness to permitaccurate gauging 'of' plural ply thickness.

" We are aware of the disclosure in United States Patent No. 1,808,259,issued to Robert C. Schemmel on June 2, 1931, of the substitution of'aply of a relatively heavy grade of paper for the customary textilefabric of the internal portion 2 of the fender welt. Our presentinvention is to be distinguished from, the paper ply of the Schemmelpatent in several important respects. The Schemmel paper was arelatively heavy grade, was smooth-surfaced, and was employed in asingle ply only. Its thickness prevented i'ts use in plural plies, andin every respect except cost it was indistinguishable from the commontextile fabric which it supplanted.

The portion 2 of our fender welt, formed as hereinabove described, is acushioning body of relatively g-reat compressibility, characterized by.a surface having a multiplicity 'of' alternate depressions andelevations. The cushioning body is exceedingly durable, and is verysecurely united to the bead portion I ,by the ply -which backs andsupports it.

A good fender welt must be flexible and capable of being readily curvedin the-f plane of its web portion without appreciable distortionthereof. This is necessary to accommodate the welt to the curvedcontours of automobile" fenders and the like. 'An important advantage ofour composite crepe paper body is its possession of these two qualitiesin high degree, practically without regard to thethickness to which thbody may be built up.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the sound-deadeningmaterial is disposed on one face only of the skirt or web portion of thewelt. Fig. 3 illustrates a modification in which the multi-ply body isoriginally provided in twice the width desired for the skirt. Half ofthe body-is folded back on itself, with the portion 5 of the coveringfabric for the bead filler interposed between the two halves. There isthus provided a resilient, yielding, sounddeadenlng surface of bothsides of the web.

In Fig. 4 a further modification is shown. In this form of the inventionthe portion 9 of'the bead filler covering fabric 3 is made somewhatnarrower than the portion 5 shown in Figs. 1-3,

and the plural plies of sound-deadening material I are made somewhatwider than as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and somewhat narrower than as shownin Fig. 3, so that a portion of the plural ply body may be folded overon itself and its edge butted against the extreme edge of the portion 9.The plies of sound-deadening material may be made as thick as, orsomewhat thicker than, the'ply 9, so that when the welt is compressedbetween the two metallic surfaces both surfaces of the metal will beseparated by the sound-deadening material. The Fig. 4 form ofconstruction has the advantage, possessed also bythe Fig. 3construction, of providing a cushioning surface for both metal surfaces,and in addition it has the advantage, lacking from the Fig. 3construction, of presenting no exposed raw edge of multi-ply materialadjacent to the bead I, which of course in practice is exterior of themetal parts and exposed to the weather.

Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive may be regarded as showing complete fender weltsready for perforation to accommodate the usual bolts which secure themetal parts together, or they may belthought of as blanks which can bedie cut or otherwise operated upon to'transform the web'portions 2 intotongued or pronged strips, as contemplated by the'Drangeid Patent No.1,760,838 and the Schemmel Patent No. 1,808,259.

The welt is applied in the usual manner between the fender flange andthe body and the customary bolts are drawn tight, compressing the downits elevations. Theyieldability and resilience of the superposed pliesof paper and adhesive are such that the somewhat diminished thickness ofthe worn body remains great enough to cushion the metal parts, and thereis no fraying or tearing of the cushioning body or the fibers thereofsuch as occurs. when woven .material wears under similar conditions ofuse.

It is believed that the principles of the invention'will be understoodfrom the foregoing description of certain preferred forms of embodiment.It is to be understood that the invention is capable of embodimentinstill further modified forms, and all such, modifications, to theextent that they incorporate the principles of the invention as definedby the appended claims, are to be deemed within the scope and purviewthereof.

We claim:

1; A fender welt adaptedto be interposed between adjacent fiat metallicsurfaces in an automobile body' or the like to prevent squeaks, rattlesand the like, said welt comprising an edge bead and a web extendinglaterally'therefrom, said web being built up of plural plies of crepedpaper impregnated with and bonded together by a water-resistantsubstance.

2. A fender welt adapted to be interposed between adjacent flat metallicsurfaces in an automobile body or the like to prevent squeaks, rattlesand the like, said welt comprising an edge bead and a webextending'laterally therefrom, said web being built up of plural pilesof creped web being built up of plural paper impregnated with and bondedtogether by an asphaltic compound.

3. A fender welt adapted to be interposed between adjacent flat metallicsurfaces in an automobile body or the like to prevent squeaks, rattlesand the like, said welt comprising an edge bead and a web extendinglaterally therefrom, said plies of creped paper impregnated with andbonded together by a latex solution.

4. A fender welt comprising a layer of fabric having a tensile strengthgreater than that of creped paper, a bead filler encased in a marginalportion of said fabric to provide an edge bead from a side of which thebody of the fabric extends, and a ply of paper folded around the body ofthe fabric and its opposite marginal edge and secured to and supportedby said body to form the web portion of the welt.

5. A fender welt comprising a"'layer of fabric having a tensile strengthgreater than that of creped paper, a bead filler encased in a marginalportion of saidfabric to provide an edge head from a side of which thebody of the fabric extends, and superposed plural plies of creped paperbondedtogether by a water-resistant substance folded around the body ofthe fabric and its opposite marginal edge and secured to and supportedby said body to form the web portion of the welt.

6. A fender welt comprising a layer of textile fabric having a hardsurface coating which is resistant to water, a bead filler encased in amarginal portion of said fabric to provide an edge bead from a side ofwhich the body of the fabric extends, and superposed plural plies ofcreped paper bonded together by a water-resistant substance foldedaround the body of the fabric and its opposite marginal edge and securedto and 1 supported by said body to form the web portion of the welt.

7. A fender welt comprising a layer of fabric having a tensile strengthgreater than that of creped paper, a bead filler encased in a marginalportion of said fabric to provide an edge bead from a side of which thebody of the fabric extends, and plies of paper impregnated with awater-resistant substance secured to and supported by the oppositesurfaces of the body of the fabric and having one free edge buttedagainst the free edge of the body of fabric.

GLEN G. BARR. ALBERT H. momma.

